Danko and larra are two types of relationship to the world and people. Comparative characteristics of larra and danko

Homework for the lesson

1. Write out the definition of the term romanticism from the dictionary of literary terms.
2. Read the story of Maxim Gorky "Old woman Izergil"
3. Answer the questions:
1) How many legends did the Old Woman Izergil tell?
2) What happened to the girl from the "country of the big river"?
3) What did the elders name the son of the eagle?
4) Why, coming close to people, Larra did not defend himself?
5) What feeling gripped people lost in the forest, why?
6) What did Danko do for people?
7) Compare the characters of Danko and Larra.
8) Was Danko's sacrifice acquitted?

The purpose of the lesson

To acquaint students with the story of Maxim Gorky "The Old Woman Izergil" as a romantic work; improve the skills and abilities of the analysis of a prose text; to give an idea of ​​the romantic aesthetics of early Gorky.

Teacher's word

M. Gorky's story "The Old Woman Izergil" was written in 1894 and first published in 1895 in the "Samarskaya Gazeta". This work, like the story "Makar Chudra", belongs to the early period of the writer's work. From that moment on, Gorky declared himself as an exponent of a special way of understanding the world and the bearer of a quite definite aesthetics - romantic. Since by the time of writing the story, romanticism in art had already experienced its heyday, Gorky's early work in literary criticism is usually called neo-romantic.

At home, you had to write out the definition of romanticism from a dictionary of literary terms.

Romanticism- “in the broadest sense of the word, the artistic method, in which the subjective position of the writer in relation to the depicted phenomena of life is dominant, his gravitation not so much to reproduction as to the re-creation of reality, which leads to the development of especially conventional forms of creativity (fantasy, grotesque, symbolism, etc.), to the highlighting of exceptional characters and plots, to the strengthening of subjective-evaluative elements in the author's speech, to the arbitrariness of compositional connections, etc. "

Teacher's word

Traditionally, a romantic work is characterized by the cult of an extraordinary personality. The moral qualities of the hero are not decisive. In the center of the narrative are villains, robbers, generals, kings, beautiful ladies, noble knights, murderers - anyone, if only their life was exciting, special and full of adventure. The romantic hero is always recognizable. He despises the miserable life of the townsfolk, challenges the world, often anticipating that he will not be the winner in this battle. A romantic work is characterized by a romantic double world, a clear division of the world into real and ideal. In some works the ideal world is realized as the otherworldly, in others - as a world untouched by civilization. Throughout the entire work, the plot development of which is concentrated on the brightest milestones in the hero's life, the character of the exceptional personality remains unchanged. The storytelling style is bright and emotional.

Writing in a notebook

Features of a romantic piece:
1. The cult of an extraordinary personality.
2. Romantic portrait.
3. Romantic duality.
4. Static romantic character.
5. Romantic plot.
6. Romantic landscape.
7. Romantic style.

Question

Which of the books you read earlier can you call romantic? Why?

Answer

Romantic works of Pushkin, Lermontov.

Teacher's word

Distinctive features of Gorky's romantic images are proud defiance to fate and daring love of freedom, integrity of nature and heroism of character. The romantic hero strives for unrestrained freedom, without which there is no true happiness for him and which is often dearer to him than life itself. Romantic stories embody the writer's observations of the contradictions of the human soul and the dream of beauty. Makar Chudra says: “They are funny, those people of yours. They huddled together and crush each other, and there are so many places on earth ... " Old woman Izergil almost echoes him: "And I see that people do not live, but everyone tries on.".

Analytical conversation

Question

What is the composition of the story "Old Woman Izergil"?

Answer

The story consists of 3 parts:
1) the legend of Larra;
2) a story about the life of Izergil;
3) the legend of Danko.

Question

What is the basis for building a story?

Answer

The story is based on the opposition of two characters who are carriers of opposite life values. Danko's unselfish love for people and Larra's unrestrained selfishness are manifestations of the same feeling - love.

Question

Prove (according to the outline in your notebook) that the story is romantic. Compare the portraits of Larra and Danko.

Answer

Larra is a young man "Handsome and strong", "his eyes were cold and proud, like the king of birds"... There is no detailed portrait of Larra in the story; the author pays attention only to the eyes and the proud, arrogant speech of the “son of the eagle”.

Danko is also very difficult to visualize. Izergil says that he was a “young handsome man”, one of those who were always brave because he was handsome. Again Special attention the reader is drawn to the eyes of the hero, which are called eyes: "... a lot of power and living fire shone in his eyes".

Question

Are they extraordinary personalities?

Answer

Undoubtedly, Danko and Larra are exceptional personalities. Larra does not obey the family and does not honor the elders, goes where he pleases, does what he wants, not recognizing the right of choice for others. Talking about Larra, Izergil uses epithets that are more appropriate to describe the animal: dexterous, strong, predatory, cruel.

Question

Answer

In the story "Old Woman Izergil" the ideal world is realized as the distant past of the earth, the time that has now become a myth, and the memory of which remained only in the legends about the youth of mankind. Only a young land could, according to the author, give birth to the heroic characters of people possessed by strong passions. Izergil several times emphasizes that modern “ pathetic " such power of feeling and greed of life are not available to people.

Question

Do the characters of Larra, Danko and Izergil develop throughout the story, or are they initially set and unchanged?

Answer

The characters of Larra, Danko and Izergil do not undergo changes throughout the story and are interpreted unambiguously: the main and only character trait of Larra is selfishness, the denial of a law other than will. Danko is a manifestation of love for people, while Izergil subordinated her entire existence to her own thirst for pleasure.

Question

Which of the events described by the old woman can be considered extraordinary?

Answer

Both stories told by Izergil contain descriptions of extraordinary events. The genre of the legend determined their original fantastic plot basis (the birth of a child from an eagle, the inevitability of a curse, the light of sparks from Danko's burning heart, etc.).

Work with text

Compare the heroes (Danko and Larra) according to the following parameters:
1) portrait;
2) the impression made on others;
3) understanding of pride;
4) attitude towards people;
5) behavior at the time of the trial;
6) the fate of the heroes.

Analytical conversation

Question

What is the source of Larra's tragedy?

Answer

Larra could not and did not want to compromise between his desires and the laws of society. Selfishness is understood by him as a manifestation of personal freedom, and his right is the right of the strong from birth.

Question

How was Larra punished?

Answer

As punishment, the elders doomed Larra to immortality and the inability to decide for himself whether to live or die, they limited his freedom. People deprived Larra of what was only worth, in his opinion, to live - the right to live by his own law.

Question

What is the main feeling in Larra's attitude towards people? Confirm the answer with an example from the text.

Answer

Larra has no feelings towards people. He wants "Keep yourself whole", that is, to get a lot from life, without giving anything in return.

Question

What feeling does Danko experience, looking into the crowd of people judging him? Confirm the answer with an example from the text.

Answer

Looking at those for whom he risked his life, went to the swamp swamps, Danko feels indignation, “But out of pity for people it went out. Danko's heart flared up with a desire to save people and take them "on the easy path".

Question

What is the function of the "careful man" episode?

Answer

The mention of the "careful man" is introduced into the legend of Danko in order to emphasize the uniqueness of the hero. "Cautious person" is perceived as one of many, thus, the author will define the essence ordinary people, "Not heroes" who are not capable of sacrificial impulses and are always afraid of something.

Question

What is common in the characters of Larra and Danko and what is the difference between them?

Answer

This question can lead to ambiguous answers. Students may perceive Larra and Danko as opposite characters(egoist and altruist), or interpret them as romantic characters opposed to people (for various reasons).

Question

What place does society occupy in the inner reflections of both heroes? Can we say that heroes exist in isolation from society?

Answer

Heroes think of themselves outside of society: Larra - without people, Danko - at the head of people. Larra "He came to the tribe to kidnap cattle, girls - whatever he wanted", he "Curled around people"... Danko was walking "Ahead of them and was cheerful and clear".

Question

What moral law determines the actions of both heroes?

Answer

The actions of the heroes are determined by their own value system. Larra and Danko are their own law, they make decisions without asking the elders for advice. Proud, triumphant laughter is their answer to the world of ordinary people.

Question

What is the function of the image of the old woman Izergil in the story? How do the images of Larra and Danko relate to each other with the help of the image of the old woman Izergil?

Answer

Despite the brightness, completeness and artistic integrity of both legends, they are only illustrations necessary for the author to understand the image of the old woman Izergil. It "cements" the composition of the story both at the substantive and formal levels. In the general narrative system, Izergil acts as a narrator, it is from her lips that the I-character learns the story of the “son of the eagle” and the burning heart of Danko. At the level of content in the portrait of an old woman, you can find the features of both Larra and Danko; in how insatiably she loved, the character of Danko was reflected, and in how thoughtlessly she threw her loved ones - the print of Larra's image. The figure of Izergil connects both legends together and makes the reader think about the problem of human freedom and his right to dispose of his life force at his own discretion.

Question

Do you agree with the statement that "in life there is always a place for heroism"? How do you understand it?

Question

Is feat possible in any life? Does everyone use this right of achievement in life?

Question

Has the old woman Izergil accomplished the feat she is talking about?

These questions do not require an unambiguous answer and are designed for independent answers.

conclusions are written down in a notebook on their own.

In early romantic works Gorky reflected some of Nietzsche's philosophical and aesthetic ideas. The central image of early Gorky is a proud and strong personality, embodying the idea of ​​freedom. "Strength is virtue", Nietzsche argued, and for Gorky, the beauty of a person lies in strength and feat, even aimless: « the strong man has the right to be “on the other side of good and evil”, to be outside ethical principles, and a heroic deed, from this point of view, is resistance to the general course of life.

Literature

D.N. Murin, E. D. Kononova, E.V. Minenko. Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11 program. Thematic lesson planning. St. Petersburg: SMIO Press, 2001

E.S. Rogover. Russian literature of the XX century / St. Petersburg: Parity, 2002

N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments in Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11. 1st half of the year. M .: VAKO, 2005

Danko (Fig. 2) became a symbol of heroism, a hero, ready for self-sacrifice. Thus, the story is built on an antithesis, and the heroes of the work are antipodes.

Antipode(from Old Greek. "opposite" or "opposing") - in the general sense, something opposite to something else. In a figurative sense, it can be applied to people with opposite views.

The term "antipode" was introduced by Plato in his Timaeus dialogue to combine the relativity of the concepts of "up" and "down".

In the story "Old Woman Izergil", in addition to old legends, the author included a story about the life of the old woman Izergil herself. Let's remember the composition of the story. Memories of the old woman Izergil are compositionally placed between two legends. The heroes of the legends are not real people, but symbols: Larra is a symbol of selfishness, Danko is a symbol of altruism. As for the image of the old woman Izergil (Fig. 3), her life and fate are quite realistic. Let's talk about this in more detail.

Rice. 3. Old woman Izergil ()

Izergil is very old: “Time bent her in half, once black eyes were dull and watery. Her dry voice sounded strange, it crunched like an old woman spoke with bones. " The old woman Izergil talks about herself, about her life, about the men whom she first loved and then abandoned, and only for the sake of one of them she was ready to give her life. Her lovers didn't have to be beautiful. She loved those who were capable of a real deed.

“... He loved exploits. And when a person loves feats, he always knows how to do them and will find where it is possible. In life, you know, there is always a place for exploits. And those who do not find them for themselves are simply lazy, or cowards, or do not understand life, because if people understood life, everyone would want to leave behind their shadow in it. And then life would not devour people without a trace ... "

In her life, Izergil often acted selfishly. Suffice it to recall the case when she escaped from the Sultan's harem with his son. The son of the Sultan soon died, which the old woman recalls as follows: "I cried over him, maybe it was I who killed him? ..". But other moments of her life, when she truly loved, she was ready for a feat. For example, to save a loved one from captivity, she risked her life.

Old woman Izergil measures people with such concepts as honesty, straightforwardness, courage, ability to act. It is these people that she considers beautiful. Izergil despises people boring, weak, cowardly. She is proud that she lived a bright and interesting life, and believes that she should pass on her life experience to the young.

That is why she tells us two legends, as if giving us the right to choose which path to follow: the path of pride, like Larra, or the path of pride, like Danko. Because there is one step difference between pride and pride. This can be a carelessly spoken word or an act dictated by our egoism. We must remember that we live among people, and reckon with their feelings, moods, opinions. We must remember that for every word we say, every deed we are responsible to those around us, as well as to our conscience. This is exactly what Gorky wanted to make the reader think about (Fig. 4) in the story "The Old Woman Izergil".

Rice. 4.M. Gorky ()

Pathos(from the Greek. "suffering, inspiration, passion") - the emotional content of a work of art, feelings and emotions that the author puts into the text, expecting the reader's empathy.

In the history of literature, the term "pathos" was used in different meanings... So, for example, in the era of Antiquity, pathos was called the state of a person's soul, the passions that the hero experiences. In Russian literature, the critic V.G. Belinsky (Fig. 5) suggested using the term "pathos" to characterize the work and creativity of the writer as a whole.

Rice. 5. V.G. Belinsky ()

Bibliography

1. Korovina V.Ya. Literature textbook. 7th grade. Part 1. - 2012.
2. Korovina V.Ya. Literature textbook. 7th grade. Part 2. - 2009.
3. Ladygin M.B., Zaitseva O.N. Textbook-reader on literature. 7th grade. - 2012.

1. Nado5.ru ().
2. Litra.ru ().
3. Goldlit.ru ().

Homework

1. Tell us what antipode and pathos are.
2. Give a detailed description of the image of the old woman Izergil and think about what features of Larra and Danko the image of the old woman embodies.
3. Write an essay on the topic: "Larra and Danko in our time."

Danko and Larra are two heroes of Gorky's famous story "The Old Woman Izergil". The old woman, telling about her life, weaves into this narration two beautiful old legends about the eagle's son Larra and about the people’s son Danko.

First, the old woman talks about Larra. He is a handsome, proud and strong person. Usually physical beauty in Gorky already symbolizes a person with high moral ideals. But, as it turns out, this is not always true. Izergil says: "beautiful are always brave." This statement is true, judging by early stories Gorky. Larra is bold and determined. But everything in him is excessive: both pride and strength. He's too selfish. How much benefit could Larra bring people if he used the treasures of his soul for their good! But he doesn't want to give. He only wants to take, and take the best.

Larra, being the son of an eagle, does not value human society. He prefers loneliness and freedom. In striving for this, he often shows cruelty. There is no love, no pity, no compassion in him. He dreams only of loneliness, because he does not see anything attractive in life among people. Sometimes our worst punishment is that our wishes come true. This was the case with Larra. He received eternal loneliness and eternal freedom to wander the earth. But how can a man's soul endure this, even if he is the son of an eagle? No. Therefore, Larra's soul suffers. Only in his eternal wanderings on earth does he understand how unbearable it is to be alone. Each person, by his nature, needs a society of his own kind.

What is happiness? Gorky in the story "The Old Woman Izergil" answers this question in the following way: happiness is possible only in love, and the highest happiness is in self-sacrifice. Old woman Izergil tells about this in the legend about Danko.

Danko is somewhat similar to Larra. He is just as handsome, bold, freedom-loving. But this is a completely different person. He directs the forces of his soul, the burning of his heart to serve people.

Let us recall that part of the legend when people begin to become disillusioned with Danko. They are overcome by disbelief. In the end, they even decide to kill Danko. But does this stop him, does it weaken the desire to lead his people to the light? No. Larra lived among people who did not plot anything bad against him. It would seem that Danko had much more reason to get angry and even hate people. But in him lives a readiness for self-sacrifice and a thirst for achievement. He does not hesitate a single moment when it is necessary to rip the heart out of his chest! I think Danko understood that his feat would not be appreciated, that those people for whom he illuminated the road with his heart would immediately forget about him. And so it happened. People, rushing to their goal, trampled the hot heart of Danko that had fallen to the ground. But he didn't think about himself, ripping out his heart. A person who accomplishes a feat never thinks about himself and how people will react to this. He acts in the name of a lofty goal. So Danko acted only in the name of saving people.

In the image of Danko, Gorky embodied his ideal of a revolutionary. In Gorky's view, this is a man with a burning heart, leading people to the light at the cost of his own death. Danko is ready to die for the sake of his cause, he illuminates the dark consciousness of people with light. So are the revolutionaries: they fight despite the danger of death. They know for sure that, having died themselves, they will leave their ideas that will illuminate the way for people.

Gorky argues that the existence of Daiko makes sense, because it was aimed at benefiting people. Larra was striving only for his own benefit. Gorky, having told us the fate of Larra, asserts the idea that an existence like this can give nothing but emptiness and loneliness. Even the fate of the old woman Izergil, outwardly so unfortunate, actually makes sense. And this meaning lies in the fact that she did not spare the strength of her soul. She loved people, and they, in turn, responded in kind. Against the background of even this life, Larra's existence seems miserable.

Comparing the fates of Larra and Danko, Gorky makes one important conclusion: it is better to have a short but bright life dedicated to serving people than an eternal egoistic existence for his own sake. You cannot lock yourself in your egoism. If you want to get as much as possible for yourself, you are likely to lose much more than you want to gain. And vice versa, you gain the more, the more mental strength you spend for the good of people. Danko, who tore out his heart, is much more alive than Larra, who received eternal existence. A lofty goal justifies any life, therefore, every person, as far as possible, should strive, if not for a heroic deed, but to help people, to live for them.

Danko (Fig. 2) became a symbol of heroism, a hero, ready for self-sacrifice. Thus, the story is built on an antithesis, and the heroes of the work are antipodes.

Antipode(from Old Greek. "opposite" or "opposing") - in the general sense, something opposite to something else. In a figurative sense, it can be applied to people with opposite views.

The term "antipode" was introduced by Plato in his Timaeus dialogue to combine the relativity of the concepts of "up" and "down".

In the story "Old Woman Izergil", in addition to old legends, the author included a story about the life of the old woman Izergil herself. Let's remember the composition of the story. Memories of the old woman Izergil are compositionally placed between two legends. The heroes of the legends are not real people, but symbols: Larra is a symbol of selfishness, Danko is a symbol of altruism. As for the image of the old woman Izergil (Fig. 3), her life and fate are quite realistic. Let's talk about this in more detail.

Rice. 3. Old woman Izergil ()

Izergil is very old: “Time bent her in half, once black eyes were dull and watery. Her dry voice sounded strange, it crunched like an old woman spoke with bones. " The old woman Izergil talks about herself, about her life, about the men whom she first loved and then abandoned, and only for the sake of one of them she was ready to give her life. Her lovers didn't have to be beautiful. She loved those who were capable of a real deed.

“... He loved exploits. And when a person loves feats, he always knows how to do them and will find where it is possible. In life, you know, there is always a place for exploits. And those who do not find them for themselves are simply lazy, or cowards, or do not understand life, because if people understood life, everyone would want to leave behind their shadow in it. And then life would not devour people without a trace ... "

In her life, Izergil often acted selfishly. Suffice it to recall the case when she escaped from the Sultan's harem with his son. The son of the Sultan soon died, which the old woman recalls as follows: "I cried over him, maybe it was I who killed him? ..". But other moments of her life, when she truly loved, she was ready for a feat. For example, to save a loved one from captivity, she risked her life.

Old woman Izergil measures people with such concepts as honesty, straightforwardness, courage, ability to act. It is these people that she considers beautiful. Izergil despises people boring, weak, cowardly. She is proud that she lived a bright and interesting life, and believes that she should pass on her life experience to the young.

That is why she tells us two legends, as if giving us the right to choose which path to follow: the path of pride, like Larra, or the path of pride, like Danko. Because there is one step difference between pride and pride. This can be a carelessly spoken word or an act dictated by our egoism. We must remember that we live among people, and reckon with their feelings, moods, opinions. We must remember that for every word we say, every deed we are responsible to those around us, as well as to our conscience. This is exactly what Gorky wanted to make the reader think about (Fig. 4) in the story "The Old Woman Izergil".

Rice. 4.M. Gorky ()

Pathos(from the Greek. "suffering, inspiration, passion") - the emotional content of a work of art, feelings and emotions that the author puts into the text, expecting the reader's empathy.

In the history of literature, the term "pathos" has been used in different meanings. So, for example, in the era of Antiquity, pathos was called the state of the soul of a person, the passions that the hero experiences. In Russian literature, the critic V.G. Belinsky (Fig. 5) suggested using the term "pathos" to characterize the work and creativity of the writer as a whole.

Rice. 5. V.G. Belinsky ()

Bibliography

1. Korovina V.Ya. Literature textbook. 7th grade. Part 1. - 2012.
2. Korovina V.Ya. Literature textbook. 7th grade. Part 2. - 2009.
3. Ladygin M.B., Zaitseva O.N. Textbook-reader on literature. 7th grade. - 2012.

1. Nado5.ru ().
2. Litra.ru ().
3. Goldlit.ru ().

Homework

1. Tell us what antipode and pathos are.
2. Give a detailed description of the image of the old woman Izergil and think about what features of Larra and Danko the image of the old woman embodies.
3. Write an essay on the topic: "Larra and Danko in our time."

The heroes of the early works of Maxim Gorky are proud, beautiful, strong and courageous people, they always single-handedly fight the dark forces. One of these works is the story "The Old Woman Izergil". This story introduces us to two romantic legends that take place many thousands of years ago. Danko was a representative of one of the ancient tribes, Laappa - the son of a woman and an eagle. The similarity of the heroes is in their beautiful appearance, courage and strength, otherwise they are the complete opposite of each other, that is, antipodes. However, there is a serious distinction in the appearance of the heroes. Larra's gaze was cold and proud, like the king of birds. On the contrary, Danko's gaze "shone a lot of vulture and living fire." The people of the Larra tribe hated him for his excessive pride. “And they talked to him, and he answered, if he wanted, or kept silent, and when the oldest tribes came, he talked to them like! with equals. " Larra fell and killed, not at all regretting it, and for this people hated him even more. "... And he hit her and when she fell, he put his foot on her chest, so that blood spurted out of her mouth to the sky." The people of the tribe also understood that Larra was no better than them, although he believed that he was no more like me, that is, he was an individualist. When asked why he killed the girl, Larra answers. “Do you only use yours? I see that each person has only speech, hands and feet, and he owns animals, women, land ... and many more. " His logic is simple and terrible, if everyone began to follow it, then on earth soon! there would be a pitiful handful of people fighting for survival and hunting each other. Realizing the depth of Larra's wrongness, unable to forgive and forget the crime he committed, the tribe condemns him to eternal loneliness. Life outside of society gives rise to a feeling of ineffable melancholy in Larra. "In his eyes," says Izergil, "there was so much melancholy that one could have poisoned all the people of the world with it." Pride, according to the author, is a wonderful character trait. It makes the slave free and strong, turns insignificance into a person. Pride does not tolerate anything common and common. But hypertrophied pride gives rise to absolute freedom, freedom from society, freedom from all moral principles and principles, which ultimately leads to dire consequences. It is this thought of Gorky that is key in the story of the old woman Izergil about Larra, who ,! being just such - absolutely free - individual, he dies spiritually for everyone (and before! everything for himself), remaining to live forever in his physical shell. The hero found death in immortality. Gorky reminds of the eternal truth: one cannot live in society and be free from it. Larra was doomed to loneliness and considered death to be true happiness. True happiness, according to Gorky, lies in giving oneself to people, as Danko did. The people of the tribe in which Danko lived, on the contrary, "looked at him and saw that he was the best of all" for his high strength spirit, courage and the ability to lead people. After all, it was Danko who was not afraid to lead his tribe through the forest thicket, and throughout the journey he kept faith in the best. People, looking at him, believed in their salvation. Even when the people of the tribe were angry with him, “became like animals”, because of their fatigue and impotence, they wanted to kill him, Danko was unable! answer them in kind. His love for people extinguished his irritation and anger. And for the sake of these people, Danko sacrificed his life, tearing out his heart from his chest, which illuminated their path like a torch. Dying, he did not regret his life, but rejoiced from the fact that he had brought people to their goal. In the image of Danko, Maxim Gorky put the idealistic idea of ​​a person who devotes all his strength to serving the people. And so his young and very ardent heart flared up with the fire of desire to save the people of his tribe, to bring them out of the darkness. He tore his chest with his hands and tore his heart out of it and raised it high above his head, illuminating the way for people with the bright light of his burning heart, Danko boldly led them forward. And the people perked up and followed him “to the sea sunlight and clean air". “The proud daredevil Danko threw his gaze ahead of himself on the breadth of the steppe,” he threw a joyful gaze at the free land and laughed proudly. And then he fell and died. " “People, joyful and full of hope, did not notice his death” and forgot about him, as they forget about everything in the world. Larra was also ready to die, but not for the sake of people, but for himself, because the loneliness to which people had doomed him was unbearable for him. But, even wandering alone, Larra could not repent and ask for forgiveness from people, because he remained just as proud, arrogant and selfish. The story "Old Woman Izergil" is devoted to the problem of the purpose and meaning of life. An arrogant, proud and cruel person has no place among people. But it is also difficult for a person with a high strength of spirit, a "burning" heart, full of love for PEOPLE and a desire to help them, to live among them. People are afraid of the power that comes from people like Danko and do not appreciate it. In the story "Old Woman Izergil", Gorky draws exceptional characters, exalts proud and strong-minded people for whom freedom is above all. For him, Izergil, Danko and Larra, despite the extreme contradictory nature of the first, the seeming futility of the feat of the second and the endless remoteness from all living things of the third, are true heroes, people who bring the idea of ​​freedom to the world in its various manifestations. However, in order to truly live life, it is not enough to “burn”, it is not enough to be free and proud, feeling and restless. You need to have the main thing - the goal. A goal that would justify the existence of a person, because "the price of a person is his business." "There is always a place for feat in life." "Forward! - above! everyone - forward! and - above - this is the credo of a real Man ”.